We’ve been hearing about Alessandro del Piero’s arrival in Major League Soccer long enough to be desensitized. What’s it been? Two years? Regardless, you’d think there’d be a little more excitement surrounding one of soccer’s global icons moving to North America.

While it’s not a certainty that the out-of-contract, former-Juventus attacker will find his way to MLS, this possibility’s moved beyond idol speculation. At this point, it’s something worth getting excited about (and being disappointed in, if it doesn’t transpire).

It’s one of the great things about being a fan of MLS at this point in its history. You think baseball fans get amped at Yu Darvish coming to MLS? A little, but in the context baseball history, it’s only slightly more exciting than any other major transaction. Del Piero coming to Major League Soccer? Undeniably amp-enducing, on a league-wide scale.

Italian newspaper Tuttosport speaks with a certain air of inevitability, linking the 37-year-old with the typical duo: LA Galaxy, New York Red Bulls. While the report is little more than European paper mongering, the pieces do seem to fit.

Del Piero had been linked with one other MLS side, but I guess that’s the point of today’s news. Del Piero is said to have turned down the opportunity to join Marco Di Viao in Montreal. Though Tuttosport says Spain’s Malaga could get in the race, it looks like MLS’s two biggest spenders will (again) be bidding for the league’s next big import.

The report also goes hints at the ridiculous Del Piero versus Ronaldinho fantasy choice on one sheik has the luxury of making. Check that out, and in the interim, we’ll start blowing up the implications of Del Piero: what is means for the league that the two big spenders have corner another big star’s market; and how Del Piero can and might fit with his two possible destinations.

Also, secret between us PST’ers: When you see me end a post like this, it means my first draft was way, way too long, and I need to break up my thoughts into a bunch of posts. Here’s that follow up, talking about the implications of Del Piero joining LA or New York.